Italy’s Eni and Qatar Petroleum have signed a farm out agreement to enable Qatar Petroleum to acquire a 30% participating interest in Tarfaya offshore shallow petroleum agreement, comprising 12 exploration blocks in the offshore Morocco.

The agreement is subject to the authorization by the Moroccan authorities, Eni said on Wednesday.

The Tarfaya Area is located in the southern part of the Moroccan offshore shallow waters in water depth up to 1,000 meters and covers a total area of approximately 23,900 km2. Eni, through its subsidiary Eni Maroc, and Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) currently hold a participating interest of 75% and 25% respectively with Eni acting as operator.

The companies are currently performing geological and geophysical studies as part of the first exploration period work program under the Tarfaya Petroleum Agreement.

Following the transaction, the partnership will be Eni (45%), QP (30%), and Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (25%).

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said: “We hope that the exploration efforts are successful, and we look forward to collaborating with our partners Eni and ONHYM.”

Earlier this week, Eni and Qatar Petroleum signed an agreement that enabled Qatar Petroleum to acquire a 25.5% participating interest in Block A5-A, offshore Mozambique. Once the deal has been approved by the relevant authorities, Eni, the operator, will have a 34% participating interest, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) a 15% participating interest, Sasol a 25.5% participating interest, and Qatar Petroleum a 25.5% participating interest.